[MaureenV]

didn't make a jot of difference with my lower back pain (from two bulging discs - one reasonably badly);

How, when, where and why I get pain is fairly predictable after 15 years, and I am always conscious of the dose of diclofenac I need, and that certainly didn't change over the Cymbalta period.



maureen.

[nursedeborah]

I had a spinal fusion 4 years ago, and was ruined by the doctor, long story.
They put me on this crap along with what I was already on, heavy narcotics,
and it did nothing at all.

Also what I keep hearing from people everywhere is that it helped at first,
like 2 months, and then nothing.
Also coming off it has not made my back pain any different either.

Debbie

[DuneAlia]

Delete my account.

[lifeafter]

' date=, on 01 October 2009 - 11:04 PM, said:

Seems that instead of correcting the mistakes they've made so far, they're trying to get more people onto the drug. You know, "Brave New World" was not a marketing plan.

http://www.businessw...s/D9AL3KLO1.htm



So, 32% means effective? I'd like to know the number of people who felt better on the placebo.

FACT:

Quote

Traci Johnson's body was discovered on Feb. 7, 2004, hanging by a scarf from a shower rod in an Indianapolis laboratory run by the drug company Eli Lilly. The 19-year-old college student had been serving as a test subject in a clinical trial of the experimental antidepressant duloxetine. Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration rushed to Indianapolis to determine whether the experimental drug was related to her death. The probe was inconclusive.
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This left researchers in a quandary: Was the drug safe or not? Could duloxetine trigger suicide, as some experts suggested? Or was Johnson's death an "isolated tragedy," as Eli Lilly claimed? When drug manufacturers fail to publish negative study results, as studies show is often the case, the best source of information about these questions is the FDA. The agency—which was rocked last week by the sudden resignation of Commissioner Lester Crawford—requires companies seeking approval for a drug to provide data from randomized controlled trials, studies in which some patients are given the drug and others are given a placebo. But when researchers and the press started asking about duloxetine, the FDA didn't scour its database and go public. It kept quiet.
RELATED IN SLATE
Should teenagers like Traci Johnson have steered clear of depression drugs? Don't expect pharmaceutical companies to give you the right answer. "It turns out that drug companies are shockingly inept at testing their own products," concluded Peter D. Kramer. Do the FDA's user fees mean it's in cahoots with the drug industry? Last year Jack Shafer destroyed a wishy-washy New York Times article about this subject. Read Slate's Book Club on Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression here. Read Merrill Goozner and Andrew Sullivan's debate about innovation in the pharmaceutical industry here. And in 1999, Seth Stevenson went "trippin' at the GNC" only to find that, "The success of GNC and the nutritional supplement industry illustrates how eager our culture is to embrace mood-altering drugs—as long as they don't actually work."
The FDA gave a legal rationale for its silence: Some clinical trial data are considered "trade secrets," or commercially protected information, and thus are exempted from release under the Freedom of Information Act. Since the FDA doesn't routinely perform comprehensive reviews of drugs once they are on the market, when uncommon but deadly side effects tend to be picked up, independent researchers are often the only hope of catching such flaws. But the trade-secrets rule can leave researchers in the dark about the most worrisome data—negative results that support a failed application to market a drug.

Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2126918/

Fact:

Quote

NOTE FROM DR. TRACY (www.drugawareness.org):
So even though 19 year old bible college student, Tracy Johnson’s, suicide was the only one we heard about happening in the clinical trials with Cymbalta (taking place within Lilly’s own laboratory in a “healthy volunteer”), there were apparently FOUR MORE SUICIDES in the clinical trials?!!
Paragraphs five & six read: “While people say many of Cymbalta’s side effects are manageable, some users experience effects that are extremely frightening and potentially dangerous. Some patients found the drug tends to trigger heart palpitations and increase anxiety levels and elevate the severity suicidal thoughts or impulses.”
“A 19-year-old college student who had shown no outward signs of depression killed herself at an Eli Lilly & Company laboratory in Indianapolis where she had been participating in a company drug trial for the experimental antidepressant. Four other patients who were given the drug during earlier trials also committed suicide.”

ADDITIONAL COMMENT BY DR. TRACY: HOW LONG ARE THEY GOING TO BEAT THIS RIDICULOUS HYPOTHESIS TO DEATH WHEN THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE, NOR HAS THERE EVER BEEN, THAT THE SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS DO THIS AND MOST ESPECIALLY THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THEY “RESTORE BALANCE TO THE EMOTIONS”??????!!!!!!

I QUOTE ONCE AGAIN THE NEVER ENDING SEROTONIN LIE: “The drug works by preventing serotonin and noradrenaline from being reabsorbed back into the nerve cells in the brain. This helps prolong the mood-lightening effect of any released serotonin and noradrenaline, restoring balance to the emotions of the patient.”

http://www.emaxhealt...de-effects.html
Submitted by Tyler Woods Ph.D. on Aug 22nd, 2009
Posted under:

Cymbalta, generic name Duloxetine Hydrochloride, has certain side effects consumers should be aware of.

Cymbalta manufactured by Eli Lilly is a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant used to treat major depression. It is prescribed to treat pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, which is a painful nerve disorder associated with diabetes that affects the hands, legs, and feet. Cymbalta has only recently been approved for use to treat fibromyalgia if people can tolerate Cymbalta’s side effects.

The drug works by preventing serotonin and noradrenaline from being reabsorbed back into the nerve cells in the brain. This helps prolong the mood-lightening effect of any released serotonin and noradrenaline, restoring balance to the emotions of the patient. Cymbalta may also be used in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

Among the more common Cymbalta side effects that users complain about is being fatigued even after a good night’s sleep. Blurred vision, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and issues with both constipation and diarrhea, agitation, irritability, increased, hostility, high blood pressure, decreased libido, hot flashes, fatigue, rash, and increased sweating have also been reported.

[lifeafter]

Oops double posted.

[Junior]

Lifeafter

What exactly are you trying to say?

We know about Tracy Johnson. I've also heard a great deal about how other SSRI's and SNRI's affect people - in a negative way. Lexapro is also known for bringing on suicidal ideation. My naturopath says she has heard more about that with Lexapro than any other anti-depressant and wonders why it is still on the market. In Australia, all modern SSRI's and SNRI's now carry a 'black box' warning - advising people that the 18-24 yr old group are particularly susceptible to the suicidal ideation.

Another problem is that a lot of people are being put on anti-depressants for things unrelated to depression and anxiety. In fact, I know of one person who was put on Paxil for grief. I mean, why the hell would you medicate for GRIEF? If a person cannot feel their emotions properly, how the hell are they going to be able to work their way through the grief process? To say nothing of how it is affecting the NON-depressed brain... *shivers*. Then there are the doctors who are more than happy to give out these drugs to children as young as 2. Yes, 2. Despite the fact that they have not been approved for the under 18s. I think fluoxetine (Prozac) is the only exeception and even then, it is for 8 and up.

It's not just the drug companies that have a lot to answer for - it's doctors who hand these drugs out like lollies. There is still a belief that they are not addictive. How are they all going to feel when they realise that modern day SSRI's and SNRI's are causing just as much pain and suffering as valium did in the 60s and 70s????

Having said that, there ARE people for whom these drugs are very effective. I am one of them. I have had 5 episodes of depression in my life (it runs strongly in my family) and also have GAD (something that wasn't a label when I first started seeking help for it). Aropax /Paxil has been far more effective for me than amitryptline ever was. BUT.. as many of us are now finding out, staying on these drugs long-term is not an option. They stop working effectively as our brains become tolerant to them.

The answer seems to be short-term use (6 to 12 months) alongside therapy. BUT.. these drugs should only be given to those who really need them. Mild cases of depression can be treated with things like St John's Wort and therapy. Therapy should always be included as people can learn better ways of dealing with their feelings and life stressors.

Oops..sorry for the rant ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS
Junior